WEBVTT

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- In a world of ever-increasing complexity

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and velocity of change, it will be soldiers,

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like General Dan Allyn, who will rise to the occasion

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and bring stability into this sea of chaos.

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A graduate from the United States Military Academy in 1981,

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General Allyn has served in a variety of infantry

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and Ranger units leading combat formations,

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from platoon to corps.

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He led 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division,

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into Karbala, and into Baghdad,

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in the initial invasion of Iraq in the spring of 2003.

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He led 1st Cav Division, in Regional Command East

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in Afghanistan, and he lead U.S. Forces Command,

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before becoming our Vice Chief of Staff.

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Since becoming Vice in August 2014,

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General Allyn has fought tirelessly to maintain

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the capability and capacity of all three Army components,

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that are needed to defend America,

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to preserve the national freedom of action, and to

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provide strategic options for the President worldwide.

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His steady leadership of soldiers, at all level,

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has been remarkable in these turbulent times.

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He is truly Army Strong,

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and it's my great honor to introduce to you,

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our 35th Vice Chief of the United States Army,

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General Dan Allyn.

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(applause)

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- Congratulations, all of you on your efforts,

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and all your accomplishments.

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And also a special thank you to your families,

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for their patience and their support

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through this rigorous curriculum.

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I want to recognize our international fellows,

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a very prestigious group that will go forward

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in the days, weeks and years to come,

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to lead their nations' armies.

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This large class, 74 fellows representing 70 nations,

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reinforces our mutual commitment,

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and future teamwork with one another.

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And yes, it starts here.

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By exchanging ideas, hearing different perspectives,

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and forming bonds that will last long past the time invested

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here at the Army War College.

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Relationships endure, and create amazing opportunities

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for trust and interdependence.

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Congratulations, all, and thank you

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for your rich contributions,

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let's give a round of applause

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to all our international fellows.

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(applause)

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Major General Rapp, I thank you

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for your exemplary leadership,

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and for shaping this outstanding academic institution,

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for the demands of future conflict.

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You can be justifiably proud of your enduring impact

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on Carlyle's contributions to our army, the Joint Force,

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and the multinational force you have helped to shape.

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Your vision and passion for the War College's mission

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is inspiring, and your commitment to serve

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as a leader of character is unyielding.

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I would ask all of us to recognize General Rapp

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as he culminates his career of service

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to the nation in uniform.

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(applause)

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Now the 39th Chief of Staff of the Army, General Milley,

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though he couldn't be here with us today,

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asked me to do three things with my remarks:

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be engaging, be inspiring, and be brief.

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I'm not sure whether I can deliver on the first two,

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but I'll do my damnedest to meet the third,

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and I know that's the one you care about.

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(laughter)

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Preparing for today caused me to reflect

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on my own War College experience.

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I took away many lessons from that fruitful year,

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not all, surprise surprise,

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reserved to the academic experience.

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And I thought I'd share a few with you today for your own

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reflection and consideration as you step forward from here.

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The first point of emphasis is that as strategic leaders,

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you will help our profession

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manage difficult transformations,

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but we as a Joint, inter-agency and multinational team

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have been immersed in an environment of perpetual change,

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for nearly two decades.

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And like the great leaders before you,

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this group of professionals

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is prepared to sustain the momentum,

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as our change agents for the future.

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Yes, the world was a different place,

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during my War College experience in 2000 and 2001.

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For example, back then, the fear of mad cow disease

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spread alarm across Europe.

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The U.S. handed control of the Panama Canal back to Panama,

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after 75 years.

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Lone Star, Destiny's Child,

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and Shaggy topped the music charts.

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Ray Lewis was the Super Bowl MVP,

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Shaquille O'Neal, the NBA championship MVP,

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and Tiger Woods, the winner of his second Masters.

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The Aflac duck made his television debut,

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and the first season of the TV show, Survivor,

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was on the air.

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Some things are greater than others, obviously.

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George W. Bush, after a prolonged legal battle,

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won the presidential election.

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And on October 12th of 2000,

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al-Qaeda attacked the USS Cole in Yemen,

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killing 17 American sailors, and wounding 39 more.

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And yes, less than a year later,

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al-Qaeda launched the 9/11 attacks,

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forever changing life as we know it on this planet.

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That wasn't so long ago, but my, how things have changed.

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Since then, we've been constantly invested in two wars,

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transformed our Army into a modular,

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more lethal and deployable force,

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routinely integrated Joint, inter-agency, multinational,

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and special operations forces,

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developed mastery and dependence upon unmanned systems,

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and postured and structured our Army

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to execute everything from peacekeeping

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and security force assistance,

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to counter-terrorism and major combat operations,

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often in the same operating space.

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Today, our Army is globally responsive and engaged

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with nearly 184,000 soldiers,

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supporting combatant commanders

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in over 140 worldwide locations.

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We continue to develop our future force.

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Our Army's efforts to ensure our future force

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can win in this complex world,

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leveraging the full capability,

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and capacity of our Joint Force, across multiple domains.

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Future forces must be flexible and adaptable,

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for training and advisory missions.

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Absolutely lethal when necessary,

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and robust enough to fight a major ground war

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against a peer adversary,

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or as our personal preference, sufficiently strong

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and strategically postured to deter one from ever occurring.

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We are operationalizing attributes of the force

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of the future in real time.

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The 3rd Armor Brigade Combat Team of

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the 4th Infantry Division, and the 2nd Cavalry Regiment's

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ongoing efforts in Poland and the Baltics,

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along with conventional and special operation forces'

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ongoing missions across Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria,

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demonstrate through their range of missions,

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an integration of multi-domain capabilities,

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the adaptability of our Joint Force.

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The creation of our first Security Force Assistance Brigade

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later this year will introduce even more capacity,

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and capability, and provide combatant commanders

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precisely targeted options, to meet their needs today

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and well into the foreseeable future.

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Looking ahead, we will sustain our commitment

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to adapt and innovate, integrating emerging capabilities

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and concepts, to enhance the lethality of our formations,

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and validate sound operational approaches

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to ensure we are postured and ready

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to win in future conflicts.

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While it may seem like a long time ago,

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I'm reminded that my time in Newport,

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when Shaggy was topping the charts,

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is further behind us today

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than the year 2025 is to our future.

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And while my War College Class

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fulfilled our role as military leaders,

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learning to be comfortable

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in uncertainty and changing environments

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during an extraordinarily challenging period

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in our nation's history, we today transition leadership

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for our future responsibilities to your capable hands.

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The leaders seated amongst us this morning

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will soon be responsible for leading change

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with an uncertain mix of forces,

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an even more uncertain budget,

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and in an arguably more dangerous and more complex world

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than the one we faced at the turn of the millennium.

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But I sleep well, because the leaders we are blessed with

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in our Joint Force, molded by 15+ years in the crucible

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of combat, and now broadened with a strategic education,

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remain our asymmetric advantage.

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Your careers have prepared you

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for the challenges in front of you,

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and we know as you know that you are ready.

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My second point of emphasis is that

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your War College classmates, much like those

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from other professional military education experiences,

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are a ready source of strength,

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an enduring ace card in your deck.

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Keep in touch with them, and consistently reach out

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for advice and collaboration.

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Leverage your expanded network every day.

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The relationships we forge in this great profession of ours,

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pay dividends, often in the most arduous of circumstances.

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This is especially true as senior leaders in our military.

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I certainly have benefited from the connections I made

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at the War College, with roughly 150 international

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and Joint students, our Naval War College class

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included names among others, like Mobile Holmes,

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Cyrus Vance, Cindy Jebb, John Wharton, and Maura Connelly.

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The first four went off to become flag officers,

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and the last the U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon.

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One of our international students, Admiral Vidal Soberon,

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is currently serving as the

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Secretary of the Navy for Mexico.

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I've interacted with and called for help

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from many of my peers over the past 16 years,

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often in moments of great impact.

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Whether fighting together in Iraq or Afghanistan,

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seeking counsel as we served together

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on the Joint or Army staff, on good days and bad,

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I was able to better fulfill many missions,

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to the relationships I've built

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with the Joint, inter-agency, and multinational partners

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in this environment.

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This culture of relationship building influenced my approach

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for the rest of my military career.

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Exemplify this commitment,

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and those around you will follow your lead.

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Finally, it's important to remember,

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that while Joint duty at a combatant command,

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or service as a Division Chief

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within the confines of the Pentagon,

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may not be glamorous.

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What you do as strategic leaders determines

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where soldiers fight, how they fight,

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and with what equipment they fight.

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So I ask you today,

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to personalize your commitment and passion

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to serve our servicemembers and our Joint Force.

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Put a face on the why we serve.

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It will gird you for the unyielding bureaucracy

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that arises routinely to stymie strategic level change.

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It will cement your focus as leaders,

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to be relentless in pursuit of improved lethality,

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mobility, and protection of our troops on the ground,

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in the air, and on the sea.

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The warfighters around the globe today are why we exist.

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We will continue to ask them to perform dangerous,

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but necessary tasks, just as they have these last 15+ years,

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and they will continue to amaze us

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with their unyielding commitment and courage.

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In our profession, we spell trust in all caps.

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It is foundational to what we do, and unconditional.

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And as strategic leaders,

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we maintain trust with the all-volunteer force

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by doing everything we can, every day,

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to fight for their best interest.

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So three lessons from my War College experience

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that I ask you to think about,

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and consider application in your own future.

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You have many difficult tasks ahead of you,

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but we know this terrain,

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and you and your teammates are more than ready.

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Network daily, and remember to stay connected

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to your War College teammates.

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Leverage this elite team, to achieve exponential results,

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no matter where you find yourself in need,

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or in a position to help others.

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Finally, strategic leadership matters.

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It determines whether our Joint Force wins or loses.

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Personalize your commitment, be a passionate advocate,

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and maintain the trust of those we lead

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by doing all you can to fight for them every day.

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Before I go, I want to leave you with one final thought.

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Your graduation today marks your transition,

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from tactical to operational and strategic leaders.

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Going forward, stay laser-focused,

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on the development and mentorship

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of our next generation of decisive leaders.

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Your measure of success will be the men and women who,

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ten years and more after you serve with them,

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continue to serve in our great profession.

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You have an opportunity to impact tens of thousands

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of leaders for decades to come.

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Seize every opportunity to extend our legacy

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of leadership excellence.

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I congratulate you all for

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your dedicated service to country,

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and your willingness to take on

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higher levels of responsibility.

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I thank the incredible staff and faculty

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at the Army War College,

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for your commitment to rigorous learning

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and to the profession of arms.

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And most importantly, I thank each of the family members,

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who stand alongside their graduate today.

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You are the reason we remain

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the greatest land power in the world.

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I wish you all a great success in your future endeavors,

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and I thank you for allowing me

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to be part of your celebration.

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God bless you all, Army Strong.

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(applause)